Biography
Michelle Coy struggled at times during the 2000-2001 season but was one of the World Cup's best pilots the previous three seasons. Paired with Cheryl Done in 1998-1999, she finished in the top three six times in eight races to place third in the World Cup standings. During the 2000-2001 campaign, Coy was joined at various times by Paula Wilson and Claire Nex. She only finished in the top 10 once, taking eighth at the season-opening event in Winterberg, Germany. Her lone World Cup victory came in Calgary, Canada, during the 1997-1998 season.
Coy joined the British Air Force in 1990 when she was 19, having previously served with the Air Cadets - a training group for teenagers. Poor vision has kept her from training to be a jet pilot, and Coy wears contact lenses when competing. She has lost a lens only once during competition and still made it down the track successfully.
Coy had little athletic background before she discovered bobsleigh. "I didn't do athletics or anything," she says. "I used to play the odd game of hockey or volleyball, but nothing real serious." Bobsleigh caught her interest during the Albertville Games in 1992. She took an Air Force bobsleigh class that fall and was competing by the following year.